We received a lovely cooking class called "Minnesota Wine Pairings." It was hosted at the Cooks of Crocus Hills in Stillwater. I didn't take any photos during the class, so all of the photos featured below are courtesy of the Internet. Cooks of Crocus is a lovely little "boutique" style cookware shop. It's one of those places, where if left to my own devices, I would convince myself to buy a plethora of gadgets, I really don't need:
We were treated to a five-course meal with wine pairings from Minnesota grapes. Our chef's name was Jen Antila. She happens to manage the tasting room at Parley Lake Wines whose wines were featured for the evening. And for those who've kept track, D's not much of a wine drinker, so I wasn't sure how he was going to enjoy the evening.
The first course was a potato and leek vichyssoise soup paired with a Frontenac Gris. The soup was warm (we were anticipated a cold soup) and had a nice earthy flavor. The wine was like a crisp pear that popped in your mouth. I looked sideways at D as he took his first sip. He smiled and whispered, "This is good." I was shocked, but realized that it was a fruity white, so if he was going to like a wine, this was going to be it.
Next up, we had a quinoa shiitake risotto paired with their Lakeside White (which is mostly La Crescent but with a bit of Brianna grapes). I absolutely love quinoa, and this had a really lovely texture to it. D who is not as big of a fan of quinoa, really liked it to. There was a great subtle layer of cheese in the risotto that made it pop. This wine also was considered a win by both of us. It was a more floral white (so more to my liking) and I could envision drinking it on a hot August day.
Then it was time to switch to the reds. The first red was called the Marquette. Jen explained how everyone thinks this is the wine that will help Minnesota make its mark in the wine world. She paired it with lamb skewers and a cherry molasses glaze. I watched D take a sip first as I was preparing for a not so subtle reaction. He slowly took a sip. Then looked at me. "Hey, I'm not getting that icky reaction. I like this." (Oh, before you think that he liked it because he was on his third glass of wine, it's probably important for me to note that these were tasting portions ... including the wine that was poured ... so just enough to taste and determine what you think about it.) Knowing that I may finally have a husband who may enjoy some wine with me, I relaxed and took my own sip. It was quite good, similar to a fruity Pinot and a bit jammy. (I don't even think I need to go into detail about the lamb ... it was excellent.)
Our fourth course was a Bleu Cheese Ravioli with the Frontenac Barn Quilt Red. Jen offered me a plate of the cheese filling instead of the ravioli so I could see how the bleu cheese paired with the wine. This wine was a big, bold, sassy red. My favorite wine of the evening by far. Even D liked it ... which really surprised me. I probably didn't need to eat all of the bleu cheese filling she had given me (in retrospect, it was A LOT) but I was enjoying myself and it was the first cheese I've had in three weeks, so I threw caution to the wind.
We ended our meal with the Frontenac Dessert Wine and a piece of salted Vosges chocolate. Frankly, you can't go wrong with Vosges chocolate. I just let it sit and melt on my tongue. The dessert wine was done in the Ruby-style port. I'm not a fan of port, it's just too sweet. So, while the wine wasn't bad ... it's definitely not my style.
D and I were in good spirits as we left the class (I led the group in applauding Jen and her great tour of the evening.) And we picked up a couple of gourmet chocolate treats to bring home to the boys. It was a truly lovely evening to spend with D and I think now when I open up a bottle of wine ... he's going to be a lot more open to giving it a try.
Let's Top that With Some More Chocolate
Now ... you'd think one cooking class a weekend would be enough ... but I had registered for a free course at Kitchen Window for creating a flourless chocolate cake. You see, I've made a few in my time, and I always have an issue with how they turn out. When I saw a free class, I knew I had to sign up. My sister C also registered so I knew I'd have a good time. And K decided he wanted to join me (I think chocolate and cake were the key words for him.) So, we got up early to make our way to the class. I learned a lot, especially that the pan and temperature of the ingredients basically determines how your cake is going to turn out. This flourless chocolate cake had a whipped ganache layer and then a ganache glaze to top it off.
My favorite part of the whole class was when K raised his hand to ask a question. These are the moments where as a parent ... well, let's be honest ... you hold your breathe. I had no idea what he was going to ask. His question: "Can you make the cake creamier?" The rest of the class chuckled at the cute question, but the chef was phenomenal. He took K's question very seriously and explained that yes, you could make the cake creamier. He then proceeded to tell K the two different ways he could do it. Chef Daniel scored major points with this momma.
The cake was amazing, but so rich I could only eat about half of the piece. (K had his whole slice and a bit of mine.) I was amazed at how many of the people could eat the whole slice, but it just goes to show we all have different palettes.
Both my guys are looking forward to our next classes ... now we'll just have to find one that will tolerate a rambunctious three-year-old! And I'd be remiss if I didn't share O's own personal accomplishments, he's successfully gone a week w/o diapers. (Yes there have been a couple accidents ... but it's so exciting to think this will be a completely diaper-less house very soon.)
No comments:
Post a Comment